© REUTERS/Juan Medina
An African migrant tries to cross the gates prohibiting passage to the Channel Tunnel, near Calais (illustrative image)
Indignant reactions following the signing Thursday, April 14 of an agreement between Rwanda and the United Kingdom on the issue of migrants. Under the terms of the agreement, London will send some of its asylum seekers – who arrived on its territory illegally – to Rwanda. In return for financial aid, Kigali undertakes to welcome these migrants – until their file is processed – and possibly to integrate them into the country. International human rights organizations denounce this subcontractor of the migration issue. In Rwanda, this announcement also provoked reactions.
For the Rwandan opposition, the United Kingdom must not discharge its international obligations. “ We believe that rich countries like Britain should not transfer their obligation to third countries, like Rwanda, just because they have enough money to influence and impose their will “, explains Frank Habineza, president of the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda, who fears that this situation will cause tensions.
« Rwanda already has a fairly dense population, there is already not enough land for everyone, there are already land disputes and competition for natural resources, he assures. Welcoming migrants from Great Britain will only accentuate this land problem even more, will pose daily challenges and risks creating conflicts between Rwandans and migrants. »
Frank Habineza believes that Kigali should mainly focus on unemployment among young Rwandans. ” We already have our own problems that we have to solve: the youth, for example, who are trying to survive without work. The unemployment problem has gotten worse with the Covid epidemic, and sending migrants here is only going to exacerbate this problem. We believe that Rwanda, which will host the Commonwealth summit in a few months, wanted to please the United Kingdom, but Rwandans themselves have nothing to gain from this agreement. »
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Same story on the side of the Unified Democratic Forces. Rwanda does not have the means to welcome these migrants, believes its president Victoire Ingabire. “ I condemn the Rwandan authorities, who agree to bear the burden and who are unable to bear it. We support refugees with an amount of 120 million pounds, but it is not enough. Rwanda has its own problems. »
Like Frank Habineza, she points to the major problem of unemployment in the country. “ Rwanda says that if some asylum seekers are not selected to return to Britain, it will offer them education, employment. But this is not true ! There is a large majority of young Rwandans who have completed their studies and who are unemployed. You are not able to offer employment to your young people and you offer to give it to refugees? This is a lie. »
For Victoire Ingabire, this agreement will solve nothing, neither for London nor for Kigali. ” Two, three years ago, Israel sent refugees back from Eritrea, from Ethiopia. Only five remain among a hundred who had been sent to Rwanda. People come here with the promise that they will be given work and if they cannot find it, they leave and Great Britain will end up with the same people. This is not a solution. »
Still within the United Democratic Forces, Pierre Célestin Rwalinda, the secretary general of the party, wonders: is the strategy of exchanging migrants for money, as agreed with the United Kingdom, in line with the values of the Commonwealth?
► Read also : UK-Rwanda deal: ‘A deliberate attempt to deter immigration’
